Government Associations to Collocate on Capitol Hill

By Keith Loria, Contributing Editor

The National Association of Counties and the National League of Cities will collocate their headquarters to 660 N. Capitol St., a new, 200,000-square-foot all-glass building on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.

Located at the southwest corner of North Capitol and G Streets, the eight-story building offers floor-to-ceiling, high-efficiency glass and energy-conscious building systems.

Joe Judge and Ken Patton from JLL represented NACo and NLC in this lease transaction. JLL’s Doug Mueller and Evan Behr represented the building owner, Republic Properties Corporation. NLC and NACo will be the lead tenants in the building.

“It’s a brand new building in the heart of Capitol Hill and provides phenomenal access to the Hill, which was a key consideration for both the NACo and NLC,” Judge told Commercial Property Executive. “They are the voice of county and city government in Washington, D.C., so they go to the Hill and putting their best foot forward on behalf of their membership. Having that access and being that close is very meaningful.”

The move also allows Washington’s two leading local government organizations to leverage each other’s expertise and coordinate efforts to help thousands of local leaders build stronger communities, advocate on national issues and raise the public’s understanding of the roles of county and city officials.

The new headquarters were designed collaboratively, and will help advance NACo and NLC’s mutual priorities and foster innovative partnership. The collocation will occupy three floors of the 660 North Capitol Street building and house state-of-the-art conference and meeting spaces. The building will also meet the USGBC’s LEED Gold certification for green building.

“They want to lead by example and be good stewards of the tax payers’ funds and make sure they are being as efficient as possible via use of energy and all the great things that go with being LEED and the benefits of new construction,” Judge said. “The building is directly across the street from Union Station and provides the most accessible access anywhere in the city.”

NACo is relocating from 25 Massachusetts Avenue, taking 39,987 square feet in the new location. NLC is relocating from 1301 Pennsylvania Avenue, taking 33,654 square feet. The organizations will share a 4,730-square-foot state of the art conference center on the first floor.

“These were two organizations with requirements ranging between 30,000 and 40,000 square feet each, and this allowed them an opportunity to have a first-floor presence that will showcase a town hall conference facility government center for all their members, so when they come to Washington, they have a place to go,” Judge said.